this holiday season

I am hiding in my room at the moment while my husband tackles the tree and other Christmas decorations. Hiding because the old Tina overcomes me when faced with familiar tasks. Without even a thought to the surgical repair, I squatted (a huge no-no) while helping my husband look for lights. I have also been sort of bossy – clearly time to step away.

I am my own worst enemy, I swear.

Hiding in my room is sort of like a timeout, forcing me to regroup. If I want to avoid future surgeries, I must change my behavior. When the old Tina rears her busybody little head, I am often blind to it (until the painful consequence).

It is going to take a whole lotta prayer for me to change. A ton. In the meantime, we came up with “an alert word” to shake things up when I get out of line:

HALT

And I hear it often in one day. 🙂 My prayer is that I will no longer need to rely on others to tell me when I have overstepped my bounds. That God will help me to recognize what I am doing well in advance of any painful consequences. That I can change.

This holiday season we plan to keep things simple. We talked about what traditions mattered most to us as a family and what ones could be shelved. I must admit, I am finding the shelving part difficult.

Perhaps all of these limitations are a giant HALT from above. Setting aside much of what I love to gain a healthy perspective. To restore balance. To appreciate even the smallest things (like sitting, for starters!) and to help me focus on the details that matter most.

Have you stopped long enough to ask yourself why you do all of the things you do during the holiday season? Have you sat down and written out why you want to celebrate Christmas? Have you asked yourself what you believe about this season and what is really important to you? All great questions to ponder.